Paying tax on eBay purchases

Many countries and jurisdictions around the world apply some sort of tax on consumer purchases, including items bought on eBay. Whether the tax is included in the listing price, added at checkout, charged at the border, or paid directly by the buyer depends on the seller's status, the order price, the item's location, and your shipping address.

Items delivered to a United States address

If your shipping address is not in one of the marketplace responsibility states but the seller has a responsibility to charge sales tax, the applicable taxes will be included in the order total at checkout.

If your shipping address is in one of the marketplace responsibility states within the US, applicable sales tax will be collected by eBay and included in the order total at checkout.

If neither the seller nor eBay collect sales tax on items purchased by you, you may be required to pay use tax directly to the state and/or local tax authorities on any purchases of taxable items. For more information, we recommend that you consult with your tax advisor.

In addition to any applicable sales or use taxes, if the items you purchase are shipped from outside the US, you may have to pay duties and any applicable customs processing fees. You may need to pay these additional amounts to the customs authority or to the entity handling your shipment (e.g. US Postal Service).

Items delivered overseas

If you're having an order shipped to an address outside of the United States, local consumer tax and/or customs duty may apply and the parcel's recipient may need to pay these as part of clearing the parcel through customs.

While we've included basic information for some countries here, it's only intended as a guide and is by no means exhaustive. For more information, please check the local tax and customs regulations.

Items delivered to EU countries – Value Added Tax (VAT)

If the item's being shipped from outside the EU, the recipient may need to pay VAT and customs duty. These may not apply if the order's under a certain value, but the threshold varies between countries.

Items delivered to Australia – Goods and Services Tax (GST)

GST applies to goods imported by consumers into Australia.

Orders up to AU $1,000
From 1 July 2018, if you're buying an item located outside Australia and you select a shipping address in Australia, eBay will add GST to your total at checkout. The order value (item price + shipping costs) goes directly to the seller as usual, and eBay remits the GST portion to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Please visit the ATO website for more information about the introduction of GST on low value imported goods - opens in new window or tab.

Orders over AU $1,000
If you're buying from overseas and your order is valued at over AU $1,000, the GST is generally collected at the Australian border. You may need to pay it as part of clearing your parcel through customs.

Items delivered to New Zealand – Goods and Services Tax (GST)

GST applies to most items shipped to New Zealand, and other duties and fees may apply as well. However, you may not have to pay GST and duties if they add up to less than NZ $60.

Refunded purchases

If you paid tax on your purchase through eBay and you get a refund for your order, you'll also get a refund for the proportionate amount of tax. For example, if you receive a full refund, you'll get the entire tax back. If you receive a 50% partial refund, you'll get 50% of the tax back. Any refunds processed outside eBay's systems are not eligible for a tax refund.

If you paid import taxes or duty as part of clearing your parcel through customs but you then returned the item, please contact the customs authority regarding a refund of the charges.

Top Takeaway

If additional tax is applicable on your eBay purchase, you'll see this indicated on the listing page and the tax amount will be shown on the checkout page, before you pay.